September 14, 2021
Bali PPKM drops to Level 3, religious ceremonies need control + Borders tightened + 2021 tourism focus will be local + more
Good morning!
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Weather & Tides
Today’s Weather for Southern Bali
Today’s Tides
Meteorology, Climatology & Geophysics Council (Link)
Tide table from Tide-forecast.com.
Daily Covid Update
National Figures
Local Figures
*Note: The provincial government did not release its infographic by press time.
The Big News
“Bali PPKM Drops to Level 3, Religious Ceremonies Need Control” from Tribun Bali (Indonesian): The Central Government announced that Bali Province has moved to PPKM level 3. "In the implementation of PPKM last week, the government lowered Bali to level 3. So that from 11 cities in level 4 districts, last week, the number has decreased to only 3 districts and cities," said Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan on Monday. "I want to say that in Bali people wearing masks are already good at more than 95%. But I'm sorry, there are still excessive religious celebrations that should be controlled so that there are not too many participants, which will lead to new clusters," he said.
Context: Other media reports focused on Bali’s cinemas being allowed to reopen (Indonesian), though at a 50% capacity, and patrons must use the PeduliLindungi app. More tourism sites are also reopening, including Uluwatu Temple (Indonesian) and Pettitenget Beach (Indonesian). Some sites are operating only on an odd-even approach to limit crowds.
“Bali’s COVID-19 Restrictions Eased, National Borders Tightened” from Reuters: Indonesia has eased its COVID-19 restrictions on Bali, although international travellers will face stricter protocols on arrival to help curb the spread of new variants, a senior minister said on Monday. Tourist spots in most parts of the island will now accept visitors, maritime and investment minister Luhut Panjaitan said, as long as they adhere to strict protocols, such as proving their vaccination status on a government-verified phone app. International visitors must undergo an eight-day quarantine and take three PCR tests before they enter the island. "Firm action" would be taken against those who flout the restrictions, Panjaitan said. Indonesia's health minister said that borders to the country would be tightened, saying "The government has decided to strengthen the country's entry points, by equipping and tightening the quarantine process at sea, land and air."
“Indonesia Questions Saudi, Malaysia & UAE PCR Tests” from Bali Plus: Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin questioned the quality of PCR examination laboratories in Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, and the United Arab Emirates. This is as a result of many travelers found to be positive for COVID-19 upon arrival in Indonesia, despite having negative PCR tests from their countries of origin. “Especially for air travel, even for countries with quite strict regulations for travel, we still ask for a PCR test. Despite this, upon arrival when we test, the positivity rate can still be very high,” said Sadikin on Monday. “The highest are from Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, and the United Arab Emirates. So we don’t know whether the PCR results from there are of good quality from these three countries,” he said. Sadikin said his party will immediately conduct bilateral cooperation with the Ministries of Health of the three countries to confirm which laboratories are qualified to be used for PCR examinations before traveling to Indonesia.
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Other Headlines
“Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy Will Focus on Domestic Tourists in 2021” from Antara Bali (Indonesian): The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy will focus on domestic tourists in an effort to increase tourism activity in 2021. "We are focusing on tourism this year, because of the pandemic situation, health is the main priority," said Reza Pahlevi of the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy on Monday. Reza said that the key to the current momentum is to prepare tourist destinations for strict health protocol standards. According to him, the most desirable destinations in the future are those that can best maintain health protocols.
Context: This statement contrasts with earlier suggestions by Minister Sandiaga Uno that a reopening could be based on the Phuket Sandbox model, which pointedly avoided focusing on domestic travellers.
Vaccination Update
“41 Million Indonesians Receive Complete Vaccine Shots” from Antara: The Ministry of Health on Monday claimed that as of Sunday 41,734,734 people have been given a complete dose of Covid-19 vaccine. First-dose vaccine shot recipients have also increased by 517,475 and added the total tally to 72,766,195 people. The number of healthcare workers receiving vaccine boosters has also grown to 778,830 people.
More...
Nation: “BIN Continues Mass Vaccinations in 10 Provinces” from Antara
Nation: “J&J to Be Distributed to Seven Areas” from Antara
Health Protocols (Prokes) & Health Services
“Residents Reject Centralized Isolation” from Radar Bali (Indonesian): Confirmed cases in four areas that contributed the highest cases in Bali Province continue to show a downward trend. The four are Badung Regency, Denpasar City, Gianyar, and Tabanan. Although the trend of positive cases is declining, there are new challenges for the Bali Covid-19 Handling Task Force. The new challenge is related to the large number of residents and communities in four districts in Bali who have been exposed to Covid-19, choosing to self-isolate at home and refuse to be taken to centralized isolation.
More...
Nation: “Government Should Not Rush to Ease Covid-19 Curbs” from Antara:
Denpasar: “Prokes Enforcement Nets Violators in Denpasar” from Bali Post (Indonesian)
Economy & Infrastructure
“Government Guaranteeing Food Availability for Public” from Antara: Vice President Ma'ruf Amin said the government is still able to guarantee food availability for the public with the "promising" production of 11 main food commodities. "Alhamdulillah, the government can secure the availability of 11 main food commodities for 273 million Indonesians," the vice president said on Monday. The 11 food commodities are rice, corn, onions, garlic, large chili, cayenne pepper, beef, chicken, chicken eggs, granulated sugar, and cooking oil. Amin said national rice production is "very promising" so food availability for the public is guaranteed. "National rice production in the last two years has also been favorable. Until the third week of August 2021, rice stocks reached 7.6 million tons," he said.
More...
Gianyar: “Gianyar Tobacco Cultivation Suffers” from Bali Express (Indonesian)
Gianyar: “Ubud’s Chaotic Cables Planted, Swallowing IDR 28 Billion” from Radar Bali (Indonesian)
Education
“Jakarta Cancels Face-to-Face Schooling, Was Planned to Start Monday” from Tempo (Indonesian): Head of the Public Relations Subdivision of Inter-Institutional Cooperation of the DKI Jakarta Education Office, Taga Radja Gah, said his party needed to review face-to-face learning events every day. "It's still the same as before. So Monday, Wednesday and Friday," he said on Monday. Previously, limited face-to-face learning had begun in Jakarta since August 30, 2021. The PTM schedule alternated, namely Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The DKI Education Office then plans to open face-to-face schools every day, Monday-Friday, starting September 13, 2021.
“Cybersecurity Group Suspects Chinese Hackers Compromised Indonesian Govt” from Tempo: Claims have emerged involving Chinese hackers breaching internal networks of Indonesian government ministries and agencies, including the state Intelligence Agency (BIN), raising cybersecurity concerns. The report came from privately held cybersecurity firm Recorded Future through its media subsidiary The Record, which stated that the intrusion was discovered by its research division against threats, Insikt Group. They linked the security threat to Mustang Panda, a Chinese threat actor known for its cyber-espionage campaigns targeting the Southeast Asian region. Insikt Group researchers reportedly notified authorities in Indonesia regarding their finding in June this year and then again in July. Officials did not provide feedback for the reports.
Context: This follows on from the recent eHac data leak, which a brief police investigation declared as being non-leaking. The story from The Record is here.
Of Interest
“Female Emcee Says Bali Governor Against Women on His Stage” from Coconuts Bali
“Opportunities, Threats Presented by Tourism Boom in East Java” from Antara
“BMKG Denpasar Warns of Wet Season” from Tribun Bali (Indonesian)
“18 Buffaloes Die Suddenly, Blood and Saliva Samples Examined” from Suara Bali (Indonesian)
“Mount Agung Returns to Normal” from Radar Bali (Indonesian)
“KAI Issues New Travel Rules for Train Users, Including Airport Trains” from Tempo
“Two Filipino ATM Skimmers Deported” from Bali Prawara (Indonesian)
How You Can Help
In response to the collapse of the tourism sector in Bali and the resulting economic crisis due to Covid19, tens of thousands of families have found themselves with a greatly reduced income—if any. By the middle of 2020, over 100,000 people on Bali had lost their job. While government support has been limited, Indonesians and foreigners have sprung into action, raising funds and distributing badly needed food and everyday essentials to those most in need.
We've been raising awareness of these efforts, and if you’d like to make a contribution of any kind, you can see a list of some organisations here. Further projects have registered themselves with Bali Solidarity. If you know of an effort and would like to have them listed, please send their information to TheBaliBeat@outlanders.global
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